There Was No Plan
by OnlyHere4Puckabrina
Summary: An alternate ending. What if Nick and Judy had not come up with the Brilliant Blueberry Plan in time? If anyone has a better idea for the title, I'm all ears. Also, I don't own anything.


"NO! Nick, fight it!" Judy cried, kneeling beside her friend, whose body was shaking with convulsions.

"Oh but he can't!" called a singsong voice from above them. It came from the sheep Judy had once thought of as sweet and harmless; a friend. But now she was calling the ZPD on a radio, begging them to come and save Judy from the fox who would never have hurt her if not for that sheep. Speaking of…

Judy glanced down at Nick again, to see his head snap towards her. His pupils had shrunk to slits, and his teeth were bared, growling at her. She gasped and took off, though she knew there was nowhere to run. They were in a pit, and sooner or later, she would be cornered.

The predator behind her pounced after her, Judy barely keeping ahead of him. Ducking under a plastic fawn, she picked it up and threw it at Nick. It caught him in the stomach, giving Judy time to get away while he tore it to pieces. Meanwhile, Bellweather was explaining how she had used the Night Howler flowers to cause terror among the citizens of Zootopia.

"So that's it?" Judy said to her. "Create panic and fear, and you stay in power?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Well it won't work!" Judy shot back, readying the pen in her paw. If nothing else, she was going to get the sheep above her convicted of her crimes, because that's what being a cop was all about.

"Fear always works!" Bellweather laughed. "And I'll dart every predator in Zootopia to keep it that way. Bye bye bunny."

Her words were recorded, and shocked Judy back to her situation. She looked down to see the face of her friend snarling at her. She had seen those features express amusement, cynicism, shock, sadness, fear, coldness and even malice, but now they held something entirely new. Savagery, and Judy could never have expected it to appear on him. It struck terror into her very core, her mind going numb.

But with her mind numb, her body could forget that the fox in front of her was a friend. It simply fell back onto its most basic instinct:

survival.

And just as she had done as a kid, she pulled back and kicked the face of the fox above her; only now she kicked with the strength of a full-grown rabbit with police training.

The predator flew back with a howl of pain, emerald eyes flashing in fury. Then he leapt at her again, but Judy was already on her feet and ready for him. He reeled back again, with a slash across his muzzle.

Judy was entirely focused on the predator in front of her. He was wary now, and prowled around her, keeping her in her corner. She tried to dart to one side and he blocked her. She feinted and tried to break away again, but he anticipated the move. If only she had her fox repellent, she could have held him off until the ZPD got there. Bellweather had already called them, after all, and they were only across the street… but she had discarded that item almost the moment after her catastrophic interview and the following fallout with Nick. How ironic.

Then she heard a faint cry of "ZPD!"

Her attention wavered for a split second, and the fox attacked.

She was on the ground in an instant, using all her strength to keep away the gnashing teeth. She had intellect, training and desperation on her side, but he had strength, size, and unbridled bloodlust.

She only just managed to keep his fangs away from her throat, but in a flash, he changed tactic, and went for her leg.

Her scream of agony turned out to be a good thing, actually.

Within three seconds, the rabid fox was ripped off her just as he made another attempt for her neck, which Judy knew she wouldn't have been able to stop. She looked up to see Officer McHorn helping Trunkaby force a muzzle onto the predator.

"No, don't…" she called weakly, holding out her paw towards her friend.

They didn't hear her, and dragged away the savage animal, just as Judy heard a familiar "HOPPS!" She couldn't help a small smile as she was picked up, and dimly remembered her pen, pushing it into the buffalo's hoof as she was carried past him.

"Chief Bogo…" she said, "…Bellweather…"

That was all she managed before she passed out.

Judy awoke in a sterile white bed. She sat up, earning the attention of the nurse who was examining her leg. "Oh good, you're awake. You've only been out a couple of hours, which was good for us. It gave us a chance to bandage this leg of yours." The possum shook her head. "These predators. They're just downright dangerous, they should all be locked away for the good of everyone!"

"That enough!" thundered Chief Bogo, entering the room. "Leave us, I need to speak to my officer."

The nurse hurried out of the room.

The chief turned to Judy. "Your recording was very helpful. Now, care to explain _how_ exactly Bellweather turned these predators savage?"

Judy explained about the toxic flowers called Night Howlers, how they turned any animal rabid who ate one.

Or was shot with a dart full of concentrated venom.

She told how she had figured it out, re-recruited Nick, and together they had chased down the lead, finding Doug's lab and trying to bring the evidence to the ZPD, and finally how Bellweather had cornered them in the museum, trapped them in the pit and shot Nick with one of her serum bullets.

"I was wrong before, Chief. Mayor Lionheart was trying to find an antidote without causing a panic. He just didn't know _what_ was causing it. Now that we do, we can fix it."

Chief Bogo had listened to her in silence and now stood up. "Then we best get started," he said. As he was halfway out the door he stopped and turned back to the bunny. "Well done, Hopps."

Judy flushed with pleasure at the compliment, and the door shut with a snap.

The doctors Bogo told about the venomous flowers made quick work finding an antidote, and in a few days had begun producing the medicine to use on the patients. Judy, at that time, was allowed to walk around for a short time, with a crutch, on her injured leg.

After much begging, pleading, and bargaining with the doctors, she was wheeled down to Nick's room to see him. She found him muzzled and strapped to a bed, and the sight was enough to make her leap out of her wheelchair in anger.

"Get rid of those things now!" she demanded.

"But Officer…"

"Get them off him!"

"Miss…"

"NOW!"

The doctors scurried to do as they were told, making sure he was sedated so that he wouldn't leap up and attack them. So far, the antidote hadn't done much besides subdue him. While easy to find, it was apparently not quick to act, and Judy spent the next twenty-four hours at his bedside, watching him.

Whenever there was no one else in the room, she talked to him, giving him updates, like how Bellweather had been caught and arrested, Lionheart was due to be released the next day and how she had just thought that they could have switched those serum bullets with those blueberries you had as they looked quite similar.

"Isn't it funny how the best ideas always come afterwards?" she laughed softly. It was almost dawn, and she watched him tenderly as he slept. "Just so you know, Nick," she whispered, "I'm not giving up on you. Ever."

Judy's eyelids fluttered open when she heard a groan. She sat up, having fallen asleep in her chair, and found Nick stretching, jaws gaping in a huge yawn. She couldn't hold back a shiver as she caught sight of his sharp white teeth, so lately intent on ripping her apart.

Then he opened his eyes and blinked, emerald eyes softening in recognition, and her nervousness vanished. He sat up and smiled at her. Her Nick was back, and his first words confirmed it.

"Hey, Carrots. We having sleepovers now, are we?"

"NICK!"

Judy launched herself out of her chair and into his lap, wrapping her arms so tightly around him that he gasped. "Hey, that's my rib cage. Ow."

The bunny paid him no mind, only snuggled closer to him, a few tears escaping her eyes.

The fox laughed. "Okay, okay. That's enough."

Judy finally pulled away and wiped her eyes. "You…you were…"

"I know, Carrots," he said softly. "I remember." He glanced down at her leg. "I'm so sorry."

Judy put a paw on his arm. "It wasn't your fault. It was the Night Howlers."

Nick glanced down at the unfamiliar touch on his arm, but this time, he did not pull away.


End file.
